Manipur Violence: A Detailed Report

On 3rd May 2023, the All Tribal Student Union Manipur (ATSUM) started a Tribal solidarity march. This march was called a “peace rally”. However, the march soon turned violent and several houses were burnt. In the same wake, temples were also destroyed.

Upon detailed reporting it was discovered that the initiating round of violence was targeted towards the Meitei community. On this day violence, arson and mayhem affected various districts like Churachandpur, Imphal East, Imphal West, Bishnupur, Tengnoupal, and Kangpokpi.

A Christ centered Tribal Christian Churches forum released a press release on 1st May 2023 conveying solidarity with the Tribal solidarity march to be held by ATSUM on 3rd May. The rally was announced against the order of Manipur High court.

In May 2013, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India had called upon the state government to submit the formal response along with the latest socio-economic survey and ethnographic report which the state government failed to do.

The HC had asked the state government to respond to the said communication.

As per the news report there has been significant numbers of Meitei houses burnt in districts like Tengnoupal, Kangpokpi and Churachandpur.

The violence spread to the foothills of the valley district where several Meitei houses were burnt by Kuki armed protestors. In the Churachandpur district alone 8 temples were burnt down. 2 temples were burnt down in the Kangpokpi district.

In retaliation, few church buildings were also destroyed. In the Municipal areas of Imphal East and West several Kuki houses have been vandalized and burnt and destroyed by the agitated mob.

Affected Kuki people were safely sheltered at the campus of Manipur Rifles and Tulihal Airport and other safe places by the State Government.

It was reported that a significant number of the Meitei population was caught in a hostage like situation for some time in these areas.

The Meitei population is forced to become homeless refugees in their own ancestral land and take refuge at the DC office at Churachandpur district headquarters.

It is an alarming indication for the security of the state that the Kuki protestors are equipped with sophisticated weapons hiding in trenches and bunkers and are preventing the entry of security forces to rescue the affected people.

In view of the escalated violence on 4th May, the Union Government invoked Article 355 of the Constitution, which is a part of emergency provisions.

Article 355 of the Constitution empowers the Union Government to take necessary steps to protect a State against external aggression or internal disturbances.

There has been enormous deployment of the Army, the Assam Rifles, the Rapid Action Force, and local police into the affected districts of the State.

As it has been reported, over a dozen people have been killed, hundreds have been wounded, and over 9,000 people belonging to the Kuki and Meitei communities, besides others, have been displaced so far.

According to defense sources, 9,000 people were taken in after being evacuated from violence affected areas. Vehicles, as well as residences and other property, have all been destroyed.

According to the Manipur Chief Minister, of the 1041 arms which were looted, only 214 arms have been recovered till now. Based on these situations, the onslaught in the name of protest seems pre- planned, and very well organized.

It is evident from the unfolding of the events that this whole episode of violence which engulfed peace and tranquility of the region was very well strategized and guided by Kuki SoO (Suspension of Operations Order) militants supported by members of ATSUM, KSO and Manipur Tribal Forum etc.

The involvement of the militant groups is made obvious by the fact that the first round of violence was initiated in the so-called peace rally involved sophisticated weapons and multiple bullets were fired as mentioned in a report published by the Hindu Post on 5th May.

Why ST Status for Meitei

In Manipur, the Meitei community has a higher population than the combined population of 34 tribes including Naga and Kukis (who have ST status) but only 10% geographic area of the state and its resources are available for the Meitei which can be shared by everyone because a large part of the state’s territory is practically reserved for the ST.

The Meitei community is crammed into little scope of opportunity. Although some of the Meitei communities (Meitei community includes several other subgroups) are already included in the SC and OBC lists.

However, they are demanding that the entire Meitei community should be designated as ST as per historical evidence.

Meitei were recognized as a tribe till 1949 but lost their tribal Status later. Meitei/Meetei had the Tribe status as per the census records of 1891, 1901, 1931.

But from the Gazetteers of 1951 onwards they were removed from the ST list of the Union Government based on a report by the then premier of Assam Shri Gopinath Bardoloi and his associate J.J.M. Nichols Roy, a Christian minister and politician from what is now the state of Meghalaya, India.

This was done without any information or communication to the people of Manipur as well as to the Government of Manipur, even without the approval of the Ministry of tribal Affairs, GOI.

Due to loss in status, the Meitei have been facing several problems. It is important to note that the Meitei community which is non-ST as of now cannot purchase any land in the hill regions which is 90% area of the state while the ST communities can purchase land in the valley region of Imphal which is only 10% of the area of state, thus, the non-ST Meitei are over-run and the resources become scant for them.

Their population, which was 59% of the total population of Manipur in 1951, has now been reduced to 49% as per 2011 Census data.

As per independent research, the Meitei community feels marginalized and victimized without any constitutional protections. These researches show that the Meitei communities believe that with the help of ST status Kuki have been able to grab top positions in the government.

The demand for ST status however, goes beyond the reservation in jobs & educational Institutions and tax relief.

The demand to be included in the ST list, is more about protecting the Lands, culture and identity of the people; once they are declared as a scheduled Tribe, their land, culture and identity is protected either under Article 241(1) or 244(2) and 275(1).

The Meitei community feels that the ST status would help preserve their ancestral land, tradition, culture, and language, and safeguard them against illegal immigrants.

Why Kuki is opposing ST status for Meitie

The Kuki community vehemently argues that the democratic system in India is majority based. under such circumstances, the community with the majority population ends up having the maximum MLAs.

As Meiteis are the majority population in Manipur and have a higher number of MLA, the Kukis argue that the ST status is the only thing that protects their interest.

If the playing fields are leveled by declaring Meitei as ST, both kuki and Meitei might have an equal number of seats; the demographic dividend may not favor the kukis.

Why Violence Erupted in Manipur ?

The rivalry between Meitei and Kuki, which initially seems to center on the question of giving Meitei ST recognition, has other root causes as well. The root causes are as following:

Encroachment of Forest reserves.

The state government is facing intense resentment from this tribe in matters related to the preservation and protection of reserved forests.

As per the 1976 amendment to the Forest Act, forests fall under the state list, making the state government the sole owner and in charge of their protection and preservation.

This state entitlement was put ablaze on 3rd May 2023 as the kuki Tribal leaders also voiced opposition to the state government’s intended survey of protected wetlands and forest reserves and prevented the survey because they have a different opinion regarding land rights.

Additionally, as reported in the Organizer on 28 April 2023, “the Indigenous Tribal Leader’s Forum (ITLF) called for a total shutdown in Churachandpur from 8 am to 4 pm on April 28 to protest the state government’s survey of protected and reserved forests, wetlands and wildlife and the eviction drive.”

It is important to note that ITLF is the same organization that burnt down a newly constructed gym-cum-sports facility a day before it was scheduled to be inaugurated by Chief Minister N Biren Singh on 27th April, as reported by Opindia on 4th May 2023.

Narco-terrorism

Opium plantation in the forest region is another catalytic factor in the escalation of the conflict. Hill region in Manipur is turning out to be another Golden Triangle in view of the state governments ‘War on drugs.’

There is strong resentment against the state government’s endeavor to provide alternatives to poppy plantations and thereby prevent illegal drug trafficking and Narco-terrorism.

The tribal leaders have propagated such endeavors of the state government as anti- tribal act and instigated the tribal communities on communal lines.

In view of their alleged role in poppy plantation and obstructing the state government from protecting the forest and forest resources the state government on 10 March 2023 decided to withdraw itself from tripartite talk/SoO agreement with two Hill based armed insurgent groups The Kuki national Army and Zomi Revolutionary Army.

As per an article posted by India today NE on 5th May 2023, the Kuki community has seen the war against drugs by the Manipur government as an attempt of “racial profiling” against them.

However, some Kukis argue that the Meities funded the poppy cultivation and sources claim that Kuki organizations like the office of the Kuki national organization, Government of Zale’n-gam and Hmar people’s convention (democratic) have lauded the CM for his efforts.

The article mentioned above notes that this has escalated to a point where “Manipur Against Poppy Cultivation (MAPC), a movement initiated by scholars, social and political thinkers, change agents, youths and legal luminaries, appreciates Biren Singh's drive against poppy cultivation but cautions against targeting any particular community.”

Illegal migration

Illegal Migration is another reason for the escalation of the conflict. The rapidly changing demographic composition in Manipur is extremely alarming as it is the indication of the borders being porous, influx of migrants from neighboring countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh and settling down in the Hill region of Manipur.

The undocumented illegal migrants faced a high-powered subcommittee along with launching of the biometric facial identifications of illegal migration.

FMR or Free Movement Regime was canceled which allowed 16 km free movement across the border without visa. So, the state government availed assistance from the Union Government to build border fencing and establish 34 police stations along the India Myanmar border.

This endeavor of the state government was perceived as a threat to the illegal migrants who had been settled in the hill region for decades and training the insurgent groups. Keeping up with their pro-immigration policy, some Kuki organizations had also protested against the NRC.

The issue of illegal migration was recently brought to the attention of the CM in March when leaders of several students' organizations representing the Meitei community protested outside Biren Singh's home, alleging that "illegal immigrants from Myanmar, Nepal and Bangladesh" were marginalizing "the indigenous people of Manipur".

The issue of migration is also highlighted by the growth rate of the population of major communities of Manipur. While the Meitei community dropped from 60% of the population in 1901 to 49% in 2022, the Kukis have risen in population from 1% in 1901 to 29% in 2022. This boom in the kuki population leads to several speculations.

Frequent clashes between Communities

Over the years as the population of Kukis expanded, they clashed with several other communities residing not just in Manipur but also in neighboring states.

Some major incidents have been the Kuki-Naga conflict (1992-1997), Kuki-NSCN conflict (1993-2010), Kuki-Zomi conflict (1997-1998), Kuki Rebellion or the demand of Kukiland (1997-2005), Kuki-Garo conflict (2008-2018), The Kuki-Sutnga Saipung conflict (2015-2017), Kuki-Karbi conflict (2003-2004).

This highlights the tendency of the Kukis to pick at other communities and disturb the existing social harmony.

Role of evangelical forces

It seems from the information gathered and interactions with the people who are directly aggrieved by the incidents of violence, that the churches in Manipur are being used by evangelical forces and they are assuming a political role.

They have been instrumental in instigating the common Kukis, encroachment on public land in the name of religious practices and that is why the state Government had to demolish three churches illegally built on government land, in accordance with law.

Lack of appropriate action by the machinery on complaints lodged by aggrieved people

it has been noticed on the information received from number of sources that hundreds of First Information Report (FIR) have been lodged by the victims of the incidents but no further action has been taken in this regard.

Note: In so far as the names of the persons interacted with are concerned, it would not be proper to disclose now on the account of security reasons. However, if need arises it would be done before the appropriate authorities.

Based on facts and data available it can be observed that the Manipur violence against ST status to Meitei 3rd May 2023 is only a proximate cause. There has been underlying vindictiveness among the communities which has been fermenting for a long time because of various reasons.